1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a connecting element for electrically connecting a first component to a second component, and to an associated fluid assembly.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A conventional fluid assembly, which is used for instance in an anti-lock brake system (ABS) or traction control system (TC system) or an electronic stability program system (ESP system), as a rule includes a control unit and a fluid block, which includes at least one fluid component, embodied for instance as a fluid block or pump motor, and at least one fluid control element, which is embodied for instance as a valve cartridge that is part of an associated solenoid valve. For triggering the at least one fluid component and the at least one fluid control element, the control unit includes a printed circuit board, which is simultaneously used as a circuit holder and for attaching a customer plug, located on the housing, and the solenoid valves. The control unit furthermore includes magnet assemblies that are also part of the particular associated solenoid valve and are necessary for adjusting the fluid control elements embodied as valve cartridges. Via electric magnet coils, each of the magnet assemblies generates a magnetic force by way of which the fluid control elements are adjustable, and these fluid control elements adjust volumetric flows that are carried in fluid conduits of the fluid component embodied as a fluid block. The magnet coils typically comprise an ion circuit, a winding holder, and a wire winding, and they can be connected electrically to electronic circuits on the printed circuit board. The electrical magnet coils of the magnet assemblies are electrically contacted via a stamped grating that is electrically connected to at least one electronic circuit of the printed circuit board, and the magnet assemblies electrically connected to the printed circuit board via the stamped grating are mounted on the fluid control elements embodied as valve cartridges, which are for instance firmly connected, and preferably calked, to the fluid component embodied as a fluid block. The stamped grating used, which is very complicated both structurally and in terms of tools, is quite inflexible and can be altered only with difficulty during the service life of the fluid block. Moreover, in conjunction with the printed circuit board technology, a further electrical connection piece, for instance in the form of individual connection pins, is necessary between the stamped grating and the printed circuit board.
In German Published Patent Application DE 44 12 664 A1, for instance, an electrohydraulic pressure adjusting device is described for a slip-control vehicle brake system. The described pressure adjusting device has at least one valve, united with a valve block, having a valve dome protruding from the valve block, under which dome a coil disposed in a cap can be slipped. Electrical contact elements, joined together by material engagement, extend from both the coil and the cap. The electrical contact elements of the coil and of the cap are embodied resiliently. They take on the task of both electrical connection and the retention function for the coil. Moreover, they permit aligning the coil with the valve dome as it is being mounted. The electrical contact elements of the cap are embodied as stamped grating strips, which are cast integrally with the cap that is of an insulating material. The stamped grating strips extend at a right angle to the plane extending along the longitudinal axis of the coil and have meandering offset bends, as a result of which the stamped grating strips have a relatively high elastic resilience in a plane extending at a right angle to the longitudinal compensation of the coil. The stamped grating strips, on their free end, have a securing lug that extends parallel to the associated connection wire of the coil and is joined to it by a material-engagement connection such as welding or soldering.